That night, after Chie tucked in all three children, she prepared for bed as well, too exhausted to stay up and read. As she was getting ready to tuck into bed, her phone began to ring on her nightstand. The name on the caller ID was one she hadn't seen in awhile, yet never a day went by when she didn't think of him.

"Akihiko?" she asked, answering the phone. "Strange of you to call me. Is everything okay?"

"Hey Chie!" Her ex-husband's voice sounded joyous and relaxed, a rare combination for him. "Are you and Touma busy the day after tomorrow?"

"Sunday, right?" she asked, double checking the calendar on her bedside table. "No, we're not busy except for the fact that I have my friend Yosuke's kids right now. It's a complicated story."

"No worries!" he quickly said. "How about we all take a day and go to an amusement park on Sunday? Even Yosuke's kids! I'll pay for us!"

Chie thought about it for a moment. "Sure, I'll just have to make sure it's okay with Yosuke. I don't really see him having a problem with it." Her voice was hesitant as she slowly asked, "Are you sure you want me to go? I mean…"

"Look, just because we're no longer married doesn't mean I hate you, Chie." His voice was calm and sincere. "We were only doing what's best for our family. I have no grudge against you." He paused for a moment. "I didn't want you to have to always live your life with an absent husband, Chie. That sort of life isn't fair to you. I didn't want you to feel trapped in a marriage where you would only see me twice to three times per year. You'll always be my family, even if we are no longer one in a legal sense."

A tear slid down her cheek as she smiled to herself. "You will always be my best friend, Aki."

"And you'll always be mine," he replied. "So I'll see you Sunday?"

"You will," she assured. "Anyway, I'm about to head to bed, so I'll let you go. You know where I am."

"Sweet dreams, Chie."

It took everything she had not to tell him that she loved him before hanging up the phone. They were no longer in a relationship where those sorts of words were acceptable. And when she hung up, she thought about what he said. Even after the divorce, they were still family. Just that fact alone was enough for her as she drifted off to sleep.

.

"Are you sure that sounds like a good idea?" Yukiko asked Chie when she came over for afternoon tea the next day. "I mean, he's your ex-husband. Are you sure you want to go and spend the entire day with him tomorrow?" She frowned with concern. "Something tells me that might not be as good of an idea as it sounds."

Chie bit her lip. "But it's been so long since Touma has seen him," she softly replied. "And these girls also need something like an amusement park to cheer them up. And it's not like I can ignore Akihiko forever. I'm trying to think of what's easiest in the long run, and I think this might be the course I should take. Either way, I'm going to give it a try. If it's not a good idea after this, then I'll let him know, but I'm not going to keep our son from him."

"You're right," the raven-haired woman replied. "Keeping Touma from Akihiko would be wrong. But that doesn't mean you always have to see Akihiko with him. Though I've never been married, I can only imagine what a divorce may feel like, and I'm so sorry that you had to go through it. And not only you, but Touma as well." After a long pause, Yukiko muttered, "Chie, I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you through any of this like I should have been. I was a bad friend to you after high school, and I honestly regret it."

Chie smiled to herself and placed her hand atop Yukiko's. "Then from now on, let's always be there for each other once more." Her heart pounded, in her chest as her best friend flipped her pale hand to lace their fingers together. "And this time, I promise I won't let go, so you had better promise as well."

The other woman giggled. "I promise, Chie," she replied, smiling down at their interlaced hands. How badly she had wanted this ever since she realized her feelings for her best friend. Her heart cried out to her as she remembered what she had done to Chie once she had confessed her feelings. She wished she could take it all back, more than anything in the world. Perhaps she and Chie could have lived a wonderful life together. And then Chie would have never had to go through such a heart-wrenching divorce.

"How about we get dinner on Monday?" the brunette suggested. "Then I can talk it all out with you and figure everything out with him. You know, I felt so alone the whole time I was married to him. I hardly ever came home to visit Inaba, and I barely kept in touch with anyone. It was only once Souji started working with Akihiko that I reconnected with him. Sometimes he would come and stay at our home while Aki was away to make sure that Touma and I were safe. But I couldn't help but miss everyone back home." She sighed. "And that's how I fell out of love with the only guy who was ever crazy enough to marry me. Stupid, huh?"

"I don't think it's stupid at all. Love shouldn't be full of regrets. I believe that you truly loved him at one point. Even if the love faded, he's still important to you and Touma, isn't he?" Yukiko bit her lip. "I don't think you should ever regret falling in love with Sanada-san. You fell in love with him in your season. It's not your fault that the seasons changed. And it's not his either. Things just happen sometimes, and we have no choice other than to accept it, even if it's not what we want."

"Do you remember how cool he was when we were all forced to fight each other? You know, the night we met Labrys and the Shadows Operatives?" Chie sighed. "He was so cool back then. I remember that I wanted to be like him one day. Never in my life did I ever think he was going to fall in love with me. And now the reality is that we're a family, whether married or not." For a moment, she was silent, thinking it all over. "There are nights when I lie in bed and wonder if it was right to divorce him. It's not like he did anything wrong. Even though he's the one who brought it up out of concern for me, I'm starting to wonder if it was really fair to us." Tears slid down her cheeks. "Even through all of it, there's a part of me that's still as in love with him as they day we married. It makes me wonder if it will ever go away. Just the thought of him falling in love with someone else one day breaks my heart."

Yukiko reached over and pulled Chie into a warm hug. "You don't have to be over him yet," she assured. "In fact, I'd be genuinely surprised if you were. Chie, you two were married for ten years. That's a long time. To get over something like that in a matter of months is impossible if you truly cared for him." She rubbed her best friend's back as the other woman clung to her, sobbing. "I'm here for you. Don't worry, it'll get easier someday."

.

That night, as Chie tucked the kids into bed, they all bombarded her with questions. It was a struggle to quell their excitement. She worried if she would ever get them to sleep that night. Taking a bunch of tired kids to an amusement park would be almost too much.

"Did Daddy really say it's okay?" Fumiko asked, eyes lighting up. She excitedly looked at her big sister. "Shio, we get to go play tomorrow!"

"That's right, Fumi," the older of the two girls said, smiling at her little sister. "We'll have lots of fun tomorrow with Touma's Mom and Dad. Make sure you'll be on your best behavior, okay? We don't want to cause them any problems, do we?"

"No way!" the small girl quickly said, shaking her head.

"If we don't want to cause problems, we're going to need to go to bed now, okay? I know you're excited, but if you're tired tomorrow, you won't have any fun." Shiori nearly smiled at the distressed look on her sister's face. "So, are you ready to go to bed?"

Fumiko puffed out her cheeks and held her breath for a moment before running off toward the futon on the floor and tucking herself into it. "I'm going to sleep now!" she announced to everyone else in the room.

Touma then moved to his bed as Shiori crawled into her own futon. Chie then went to work, tucking the three of them in. A part of her internally warred over whether she should tuck the girls in with a kiss on the forehead like she did with Touma, and she eventually gave in and did it anyway. Though she may not be their mother, she knew they needed it.